


Ill Met

by TimeSquid



Category: Thief (Video Game 2014), Thief (Video Games)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-24
Updated: 2018-04-24
Packaged: 2019-04-27 12:32:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14425473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TimeSquid/pseuds/TimeSquid
Summary: Garrett had always known a life was cheap to Erin. In that, at least, she hadn't changed at all.





	Ill Met

**Author's Note:**

> Eternal thanks to [Haethel](http://archiveofourown.org/users/talitha_kumi/pseuds/Haethel) for editing and support in general!

Garrett froze as a rotten floorboard creaked underneath his feet. A stupid, amateur mistake— With bated breath he waited, painfully aware that if the man woke, he’d be immediately spotted. A few seconds later the gentle snoring resumed and Garrett crept over to the desk near the window, this time carefully testing each floorboard before shifting his weight. He quietly rifled through the drawers, pocketing a silver fob watch, a crystal inkwell and some coin. Where was the letter? Spotting a small lockbox, he drew out his lockpicks. Even a nobleman wouldn’t be stupid enough to keep incriminating letters in unlocked drawers. It had to be in there. It only took him a few moments to pick the lock, then he held the envelope in his hands.

An instant later Garrett’s heart nearly stopped when the balcony door opened and a slender dark figure slipped into the room. There was no time to hide. Stock still with shock Garrett caught the intruder’s eye. They stared at each other, equally stunned— Erin? She looked different, Garrett could tell even in the dim light of the candle on the nightstand, but it was definitely her. Any traces of a young woman’s softness had vanished from her face, leaving her all sharp lines and angles. There was a hardness in her eyes that frightened him. She’d grown her hair out, and her clothes were different – she’d replaced the soft leather bodice he’d long ago crafted for her with a sturdier one, and her leather trousers looked heavier, more utilitarian. Above all, she looked dangerous. She was carrying more weapons than she’d used to; there was a small crossbow mounted on her back, and the dagger in her hand glinted maliciously in the candlelight.

Garrett could only watch in horror as Erin swiftly snuck up to the sleeping man and slit his throat. There was no hesitation, no remorse. The stench of copper and iron hit him as blood spilled from the man’s neck, staining the white bedsheets a bright crimson. Garrett quickly pocketed the letter and fled.

***

Lost in thought, Garrett put away his weapons and other gear, setting aside the letter to deliver to Basso later. He’d briefly considered dropping it off on his way back to the Clock Tower, but he wasn’t quite ready to face the fence. Not after the shock he’d had. He needed time to think, to process what had just happened – he couldn’t get Erin’s cold gaze out of his mind, the way she’d just taken a man’s life without so much as an afterthought. He’d always known a life was cheap to Erin, but to witness her murder someone in cold blood … A soft thump startled him out of his reverie.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost, Garrett,” Erin taunted, nonchalantly leaning against the window sill. 

“Why are you here?” Garrett forced himself to keep his composure, to keep his voice calm and measured.

“You don’t sound happy to see me.” Her voice dripped with sarcasm. “Thought we had some catching up to do.”

 

“You look different,” Garrett blurted.

“You look like shit,” Erin retorted. 

Garrett didn’t need a mirror to know she was right. Even a year after the incident with the Primal he was having difficulty sleeping. Memories of the accident, of his search for Erin, the abominations born of the Primal, Erin trying to kill him haunted his nightmares. And Moira … Slowly, over time his memories of his missing year had returned. He often wished they hadn’t. Ignorance had been easier than reliving the inhumane treatment by so-called doctors for an illness he’d never had. The experiments— Waking almost every day in a cold sweat with his voice hoarse from screaming, he tried to avoid sleep as much as possible, but sooner or later exhaustion always caught up with him. 

Erin had moved from the window to one of his workbenches, absently flicking through the notes he’d left there. Just as she’d used to, before … before it had all gone sour. The action was unnerving in its familiarity, an acute reminder that things would never be the same again. Erin didn’t need him anymore. She was better off without him.

“You left. Why come back now?”

“I’m here for the job, nothing more.” Erin turned away. If Garrett didn’t know any better, he’d have said she was avoiding his gaze.

Garrett hadn’t been under any illusions that she’d come back because of him, to work things out between them, but the curt answer still stung.

“Is that all a man’s life is to you? A job?” Garrett regretted his words almost immediately. There was no point in bringing up the old argument. He already knew what she was about to say.

“A well-paying one as well. Save us the lectures, Garrett,” Erin snapped, whirling around to face him once more. A scowl darkened her face. “I’m not your apprentice anymore. I’m not a thief anymore.”

Garrett bit his lip. Erin had made her choices in life, and as much as he didn’t like it, there was nothing he could do – had the right to do – to change her mind.

 

“I’m sorry. About stealing your claw. Taking so long to find you. Not … listening. Letting you fall,“ Garrett forced out past the lump in his throat. 

The guilt had been tearing him apart for over a year. He’d wanted to apologise for so long, and yet it was difficult to get the words out. To admit that he’d been wrong, that he’d failed Erin over and over again. What had happened to her … it was all his fault.

“You abandoned me,” Erin accused. There was a hardness to her voice, but underneath it she just sounded hurt, almost lost.

“I tried to find you, rescue you – but the things they did to me … they drowned me, electrocuted me … in the end I nearly lost myself. I … I don’t remember all of it.” Garrett swallowed hard. It wasn’t an excuse for anything he’d let happen to Erin. He should’ve tried harder, should’ve found a way. “When I was free again … I woke in a beggar’s cart in Stonemarket. I didn’t remember any of it. I had… hallucinations, visions. I didn’t understand them at first, thought I was going insane.” Garrett desperately searched Erin’s face for any kind of reaction, any sign that his apologies were accepted, but her expression was stony. She just stood there, watching him, meeting his gaze with an icy glare. “I’m … I’m sorry. I should’ve listened more. I should’ve found you sooner.”

“I didn’t need your help,” Erin sneered, but there was no conviction behind it. “You left me. You let me fall.”

“I’m sorry,” Garrett whispered, blinking furiously against the treacherous prickling behind his eyes. He had no right to hope for absolution. And Erin was right. In the end she’d saved herself. Garrett could still see Orion turning into one of those … things, his features twisting into something inhuman, his limbs warping – Orion dying. Erin had resembled a vengeful demon or spirit, powerful beyond words and just as terrifying.

A long, uncomfortable silence stretched between them, the tension thick enough to cut with a knife. 

“You wanted to kill me,” Garrett finally said softly. It wasn’t an accusation. He’d often wondered why she hadn’t just finished the job, had even left him her Claw before she’d disappeared.

“I thought you wanted to use me, just like the others.” Erin sounded bitter, angry, all the resentment piled up over years spilling out at once. “Do you have any idea how it feels to be experimented on, to be used like a tool, like some … sack of blood?” she spat. “First the baron’s men, then Orion. They never even considered I was human.”

“Erin, no— I … I never—,” Garrett fumbled for words. 

Erin’s gaze softened slightly. “I know.”

They both fell quiet again. This admission was probably the closest to forgiveness he would get. Garrett lowered his head, unable to look at Erin anymore. There were so many questions he didn’t dare to ask. Do you still dream of it? How do you go on, after all they’ve done to you?

It was Garrett who broke the silence eventually. “Will you stay?” he asked tentatively.

“No. I told you, I’m only here for the job.” Erin shook her head, the stony mask back on her face. “Hand over the letter, Garrett. I know you stole it.”

“What?” Garrett instinctively stepped in front of the table where he’d discarded the letter earlier, before Erin had shown up.

“The letter, Garrett. Give it here,” Erin demanded impatiently. “I don’t have time for this.”

Something splintered and broke in Garrett’s chest. Was that why Erin had come here? To rob him? Suddenly drained of what little energy he’d had, Garrett didn’t struggle as Erin shoved him out of the way and grabbed the envelope from the table. Quickly she stashed it away in one of the pouches strapped to her waist, and slipped out of the window without another word. Garrett stood paralysed, a hollow emptiness spreading within him. Erin was gone. Again.

In a daze Garrett walked down the stairs and sat down heavily on his bed, burying his face in his hands. He was so tired, his body like lead, but his mind still reeled. This couldn’t possibly have happened. Erin wouldn’t— Garrett let out a mirthless laugh. Of course she would. Erin had always been ruthless. It had only been a question of time until he’d get in her way. Would she have killed me if i hadn’t given up the letter? Trying not to dwell on the question Garrett stripped to his underclothes and curled up in his bed. He knew he wouldn’t sleep tonight.


End file.
